


Tooth and Claw

by Stefanyeah



Series: Tooth And Claw [2]
Category: Muse
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-11
Updated: 2014-04-11
Packaged: 2018-01-19 00:06:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1447996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stefanyeah/pseuds/Stefanyeah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Hunter and a Werewolf Nymph on the Road together</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tooth and Claw

**Author's Note:**

> And the second fill for my trope bingo fantasy card. :D This time it‘s Magical Artefact and we‘re meeting the Spring Fever boys again. And I daresay we‘ll meet them in one or two more fills.
> 
> Once again, un-beta‘d.
> 
> The title is nicked from the Doctor Who soundtrack. Might not be the most fitting for this particular piece, but well… *shrugs*

"Are you sabotaging me deliberately?"

"This time, I wasn't," Matt snarled.

"Oh, this time?" Dominic retorted. He paced the room, staring darkly at Matt who was sitting on the bed. "I accepted that you won't just go after werewolves if they didn't do anything to justify being hunted, but this tengu clearly violated a range of laws and murdered uninvolved people. And all you do is sit in front of him and cling to a kitchen knife! I'm busy saving you more than anything else!"

"What do you expect?" Matt growled back. "I'm a librarian. I only turn into a dangerous beast three days of a month. And even then my transformation isn't complete. What do you want me to do? Throw words and sentences? Talk them into surrender?"

Dominic sighed and sat down next to Matt. He ran his hands over his face. "Why did you come with me? You knew what my life is like."

"Why didn't you become a librarian or just generally settle down with me?"

Dominic sighed again and fell backwards onto the hard mattress of the hotel bed. Arguing with Matt always left him feeling bad, no matter how valid Dominic's points were. Just when had he started caring so much for a bloody werewolf that he even neglected his own job just to save this creature's life?

"I'm not the settling down type," Dominic answered. "Isn't there some kind of weapon you can wield? Just to protect yourself? What about the pack artefact? Doesn't each pack have some heirloom handed down?"

Matt sighed and fell back, coming to lie next to Dominic. He shook his head. "The bearer was murdered a few generations ago. The clan artefact has been stolen and is missing since then. And even if it wasn't, I doubt I'd be the one bearing it."

Dominic looked sideways. He was tempted to ask more about the artefact, but he knew Matt would refuse to tell him. Whenever Dominic asked something about Matt's family, he always was reminded that Matt would never talk about the clan to a hunter, not even to Dominic.

And thus, Matt had insisted that they left his hometown once the mating season was over and Matt could stop humping Dominic at any given moment.

"I'll just go back home and sit in my library, hoping you turn up next spring, shall I?" Matt asked.

Dominic almost winced at the sour undertone in Matt‘s voice, but remained staring at the ceiling, thinking about only seeing Matt during springtime. He growled. "Bloody nymph, you know that's not an option either."

"Oh, that's new," Matt muttered. "Now it's not just the werewolf anymore, now the nymph is also abhorrent."

Dominic emitted a growl and rolled over to lie on Matt. "I'm sorry, okay? That was uncalled for." He reached up and stroked his fingers over Matt's cheekbones. "I just have a hard time accepting that I'm worried about a werewolf, even if it's just half of a werewolf."

"You honestly are worried about me?"

Dominic nodded. "Constantly," he admitted. "You're defenceless against demons and other creatures and if other hunters learn about you, it'll be even worse."

Matt smiled and turned his head to kiss Dominic's fingers. "Let's go to the Library Obscura. Just because the Bellamy artefact is lost doesn't mean we can't find something else that‘s useful."

 

Dominic descended the stairs to the breakfast room and found Matt in a corner, reading the local newspaper while eating a bread roll.

Dominic grinned. After that first morning when Matt had found him, the werewolf had always been the first to rise in morning. When they stayed at Matt‘s, Dominic had always found a set breakfast table in the kitchen and during their time in various accommodation facilities afterwards, Matt had also always waited in the breakfast room for Dominic.

Matt looked up as soon as Dominic had entered the room and smiled, folding the newspaper and putting it down.

"Anything of interest?" Dominic asked while sitting down.

Matt shook his head. "Nothing for us."

Dominic lifted an eyebrow at Matt, who sighed and held the newspaper out. "Check if you don't believe me."

Dominic shook his head and took the remaining half of Matt's roll. Matt growled, but Dominic ignored him just like every morning. It had almost become a ritual.

"So, how do we find the Library Obscura?"

Matt sighed and leant back against the back rest. “At a new moon night. Having a librarian should be helpful, too.” Matt looked up the ceiling and hummed. "Let's see what I remember...

"Search a fortnight and a day, find the mirror and return a borrowed book."

"That sounds easy enough," Dominic sighed. He swallowed the last bite of the roll and looked over to the buffet. “Let's concentrate on finding that library before doing any hunting again.” He rose to fetch some more food. "You want something from the buffet?"

"Sounds fine by me," Matt answered before shaking his head to Dom's offer.

 

"We should have nicked that car," Matt stated.

Dominic glanced sideways at the man walking next to him. Upon noticing Dominic's eyes on him, Matt sat down and crossed his arms.

"I'm bound to the law, do you think a hunter can be caught stealing a car?"

“I do not plan to be caught,” Matt pointed out. He sighed and rose again, looking over the field next to the country road and at the setting sun. "I don't know why you don't own a car."

"Got no driving licence," Dominic admitted.

"Well then, let's hurry, I'm not keen on sleeping the night outside with not even a tent." Matt glanced sideways at Dominic and chuckled. "One could think you're the werewolf, not me. What with that affinity to sleep beneath the open night sky."

"Oi! Don't get funny, Mr Nymph!"

Matt laughed and turned around waving at a car that was approaching. "Let's hitchhike. And tomorrow we're looking for a cheap car, I've got a licence." He grinned at Dominic. “That way, we can take a tent aboard for you, too.”

Dominic sighed and nodded. "Might be handy to transport weapons, too." He rolled his shoulders and jumped a few times to rearrange the backpack. Getting a ride into the next town sounded like a good idea indeed.

To his surprise, the car actually stopped next to them. Matt bent down and knocked at the co-driver's window. It was let down and a withered, old face peeked through from the driver's seat.

“Keller?” Dominic asked before the man could even answer.

The man turned his head and looked at Dominic, his eyes going wide for a moment before he broke into laughter. “Howard, fancy seeing you here. Still no own licence?”

Dominic shook his head and opened the back door to throw his backpack onto the seat and motioned for Matt to get in.

"You know each other?" Matt asked. He sniffed and frowned, looking at Dominic.

Dominic nodded. "We're colleagues," he replied before mouthing, "be careful."

Matt nodded and climbed onto the backseat. He shifted to sit behind Keller and put his own bag next to Dominic's backpack. "Matt," he introduced himself.

Keller nodded and waited for Dominic to get in and close the door.

"So, you've found a partner now?" he asked while starting the engine.

“In a way,” Dominic answered. “Still showing the ropes, so to say.”

“And he hasn't got a licence either?”

“I've got a licence,” Matt replied.

"We just need to find a car now," Dominic added.

Keller laughed and reached for the gear stick. "Good luck with that."

Matt was just about to lean back and fall into silence for the duration of the ride, when he spotted the ring on Keller's finger. He felt his blood running cold, ears and even teeth itching. It couldn't be. It couldn't.

He stared at the black ring, white patches creating the pattern of a snow storm even as Keller took his hand away from the gear stick.

“Snowflake obsidian,” Matt whispered. "Veren Rengas." He followed the impulse to reach out and stroke the ring, but stopped himself when he remembered who was sitting in the front of the car. He looked up and met Keller's narrowed eyes.

Matt glanced at Dominic, who frowned at him and shook his head, almost imperceptibly. He looked back at Keller.

But judging by the frown and the way Keller had his lips pressed together, there was no point in trying to cover up Matt's identity any longer.

"What did you say?" Keller snarled and switched the engine off again.

"Veren Rengas," Matt repeated. "That's heirloom of the Bellamy clan."

"It was rightly won by my grandmother," Keller retorted. Matt noticed him shifting, one hand moving down his leg, without a doubt reaching for a weapon hidden in his boots.

"After ambushing and murdering its bearer?" Matt asked. He shifted sideways, closer to the door.

"Bloody werewolf didn't deserve it any other way."

"Veren Rengas doesn't react to werewolves. It's to protect the clan members that _aren't_ born werewolf."

"You know quite a lot about that pack," Keller stated. "Referring to it as clan instead of pack is most curious as well."

Matt scratched his ears, growling, "That ring doesn't belong in your hands nor is it of any use to you. Return it immediately."

"Is that so?" Keller hissed. "You're a Bellamy, aren't you?" He reached for the switch to lock all car doors, but Matt was faster. He jumped out of the car and yanked the driver's door open just as Keller was shouting, "Howard, what were you thinking? Taking a bloody werewolf on board."

"He's not a werewolf," Dominic retorted, causing Matt to smirk despite the situation.

“He's the enemy,” Keller said and turned to Matt. He jumped out of the car, followed closely by Dominic who struggled to climb over the gear stick.

"I'm no one's enemy," Matt growled. "I'm a bloody librarian."

"Don't fool me, Bellamy!" Keller roared. He lifted his right foot and reached into the shaft his boot, retrieving a small gun. "Fucking werewolf!"

"Keller, look at him," Dominic shouted. He had managed to leave the car and reached for Keller's right arm. "Does a werewolf look like him? He's scrawny and hasn't even got amber eyes."

"Have you taken leave of your senses?" Keller shook Dominic's hand off and aimed his gun at Matt, pulling the trigger before Dominic could interfere again.

Matt screamed in pain and stumbled back, clutching his stomach. He heard Dominic's voice, loud and shrill, but all his senses were filled with pain, the smell of blood in his nostrils.

He looked down, seeing crimson seep through his hand, dripping onto the floor. Matt looked up again.

Dominic made to dash forward, but he was pulled back by Keller and thrown against the car. "Bloody werewolf lover," Keller sneered.

Matt saw Dominic rushing forward again, trying to push Keller aside. All Dominic succeeded in though, was getting a gun pressed against his temple.

"You will not touch what's mine," Matt growled. He took a step forward and reached out, aiming to grab the ring.

He only managed to brush his finger against it, leaving a small trace of his blood on it before he was shoved away. Matt stumbled and fell to the ground. He hissed and looked up into the muzzle of Keller's gun.

"What do you think you're doing, bastard?"

"Showing you the Veren Rengas," Matt hissed.

"What?" Keller frowned. He let his gun sink and stumbled back, raising the hand with the ring.

Faint voices filled the air around them, a soft murmur in the clear evening air. >Bellamy... a Bellamy. Finally. But he's a werewolf... no, not quite, he's something else. He's half... more even though... And yet he needs protection... Home... He's home...

The droplets of blood Matt had left on the ring hovered above it, spinning around their axis, stretching and growing until they covered the size a hand. The floating mass of blood stretched until a red line connected Matt and Keller's hand.

Howling filled the evening air and the blood was spinning again, spreading until Matt could only see crimson. He could still hear whispering, but the voices were too low to be audible.

And then the pain faded until Matt felt as if he never had been shot.

Shouting was heard over the whispering and murmuring and Matt shifted, standing and trying to recognise something.

"Dominic," he whispered just as the red filling his vision declined. The blood was still spinning around him, changing shapes constantly.

Something tickled Matt's finger and he looked down at his left hand to find the obsidian ring around his own ring finger.

"My ring," Keller snarled. "You filthy thief!" He raised his gun at Matt again.

"You are the thief. I just claimed what rightfully belongs to the Bellamy clan."

Matt lifted his hand with Veren Rengas just as Keller pulled the trigger again. The blood stopped spinning and merged together to built a shield, blocking the bullets Keller shot.

Eventually, a small click was heard and Matt let his hand sink down a few centimetres. The shield flickered and disintegrated into long, pointed shards. They hovered mid-air for a moment before rushing towards Keller.

The hunter screamed as the shards buried themselves in his body, piercing through clothing, flesh and bones.

Matt pressed his palms against his eyes, not wanting to see how the human was ripped apart. He  
shuddered at the noises of splintering bones and torn apart flesh. The sounds stopped suddenly and Matt took his hands away from his eyes, forcing himself to look at the scene in front of him.

"No!" he shouted when he saw the shards hovering before Dominic who was sitting pressed against the car. "Leave him!"

_Hunter... He's a hunter... He's one of them._

"He's mine," Matt growled.

 _A hunter…_ the soft voices repeated. _You mated with a hunter.…_ The murmuring continued, almost silent and inaudible, the crimson shards always hovering in front of Dominic. _We will spare him... for now... But... We will keep an eye on him... on you…_

The shards huddled together within a second and retreated into the ring. Dominic stared at Matt, who just stared back before falling to the ground, short barks of laughter escaping him, the sound almost hysterical.

"Can you believe it?" Matt giggled. "The Veren Rengas, on my finger after we've lost hope of finding it ever again."

His eyes fell on the blood and bone splinters, intestines and flesh in front of him. He shuddered and retched, spitting out his last meal together with bile.

"Are you okay?" Dominic asked.

Matt looked up again and found Dominic kneeling in front of him. He nodded. "That was scary." He reached out to run his fingers through Dominic's hair. "You okay, though?"

Dominic nodded. "I was afraid your ring would kill me for a moment there."

Matt nodded and leant forward, resting his head against Dominic's forehead. "Me, too," he admitted. "It's got his own mind, well, minds."

"You said it doesn't react to werewolves," Dominic said. He reached out and stroked his fingertips over Matt's cheekbones. "How can you use it? You're half..."

"Only half, yes. The Veren Rengas was infused with the souls of our old clan leaders. It's them who decide who needs the Veren Rengas and it seems they deem me worthy." Matt lifted his hand to look at the ring. "Or they just picked me because I'm the only Bellamy around. I have to return it home."

Dominic nodded and stood, offering a hand to Matt. Smiling, Matt grabbed it and stood, pressing his lips against Dominic's.

"How was it made?" Dominic asked.

Matt hummed and pulled his head back, wondering if he could answer Dominic's question. He sighed. Dominic had stood up against a fellow hunter for Matt and despite their regular quarrels, he still accepted a werewolf to travel with him. That was qualification enough.

"It was carved from a piece of obsidian a clan leader had found," Matt answered. "It's said, that the piece of obsidian already resembled a ring. So he smoothed the edges and bespoke it with magic, carving spells into it that he filled with his blood. Each following clan leader would do the same so it became stronger with each generation. It reacts to the blood of the bearer, unleashing it‘s power while also absorbing the blood. This way it gradually increases it's power."

Dominic hummed and pressed his lips against Matt's forehead. "Thank you for trusting me, little pup."

"Oi!" Matt shouted and hit his hands against Dominic's chest. "Only Mum is allowed to call me that."

Dominic laughed and shoved Matt who stumbled back, eyes landing on the tattered hunter on the floor once again. Matt swallowed and took a step back, away from the remnants.

Dominic reached out for Matt and pulled him around the car, forcing the dead hunter out of Matt's vision.

"I think the Library Obscura is still a good destination," Dominic said. "Let's find it after bringing the ring to your pack."

"The Library Obscura," Matt repeated. "Are you jealous of my artefact now and want your own?"

Dominic grinned. "Maybe."

Matt lifted an eyebrow and opened the door of the car. He climbed inside and shifted over to the driver's seat, reaching out to pull the door closed again.

"At least we've got a car now," he said while reaching for the key still stuck the ignition.


End file.
